The History of my Credit Card Debt

My credit card debt started off like most people's, I think. I can't really remember when my credit card debt started. I'm sure it was before I finished college but I don't think it was my freshman or sophomore years. I think it was maybe my junior year. And I'm sure it started out small too. Maybe a couple hundred that I just couldn't pay off and then it snowballed from there. I was never one to go on spending sprees, charging up hundreds or thousands at a time. But a shirt here or some extras at Target can really start to add up. Throw in a wedding, a new townhouse, then a new house and it just got worse. I think being in this much debt is embarrassing to me because I've always been so "responsible." I never get/got in trouble. I always had my homework done and turned in on time. I always play by the rules. If I tell you I'll do something for you, I'll do it regardless if I want to or not. And I'm smart and good with numbers. I'm an engineer after all. And I've always had intentions of paying off my credit card debt. But none of that really matters, now does it? Credit card debt happens to "good" people and "bad" people alike. And, at least for me, it seemed my balance grew each month no matter how much money I paid towards it. I started tracking my debts in January of 2006. At that time I had a student loan and credit card debt. Now I have credit card debt and a HELOC. I wasn't paying much attention to Chuck's debts because usually he didn't carry a balance on his credit card so he only had student loans. It was in June of 2007 when I noticed my credit card balance starting to creep back up again that I sat down and really analyzed what was going wrong with me. And I think I figured it out. Chuck and I had never had a budget before. What I was doing was looking at how much money was in my checking account each month, estimating what I needed for the rest of the month and then throwing as much as I could at the credit cards. Inevitably my expenses would be more than I estimated and I'd charge some things on my credit card until the next paycheck arrived. It was a horrible cycle. And I was determined to stop it. That's where the budget helped. Actually, the budget not only helped, it saved us. Now, we are finally living within our means. Our debts (all of them) are being reduced every month. Sure, we've got a challenging year coming up with our increased escrow payments each month but I'm not worried. We have the tools necessary now to keep racing down the right path to eliminate all this debt.